This invention relates to a fishing lure that is used at the water's surface, and in particular to such a lure which has a particularly life-like appearance when in use.
It is probably an understatement to state that there are a large number of fishing lures available, of a number of different types, all having the object of presenting a life-like appearance. There are also a number of lures that are of the type having a solid body with flexible members attached to the outside of the body. Alternatively, as in the case of certain types of flies, the flexible members actually form part of the body of the lure.
A few lures even have flexible members protruding from the body. For instance, Weigandt, U.S. Pat. No. 2,571,980, discloses a lure formed in two facing sections, with bundles of bristles or hairs positioned in transverse grooves and held therein by the assembling of the sections together. Other than stating that they are bristles or hairs, no further description of the material of which they are constructed is given. As another example, Palermo, U.S. Pat. No. 2,891,343, shows a number of strands projecting out from both sides of the lure there disclosed. These strands are alternatively referred to as bucktail hairs, whiskers and vibratory wings. They are attached by connecting them to a set of legs within the body. Both of these patents require several manufacturing steps to install these projections, making manufacturing of these lures relatively expensive. Further, the projections themselves are quite stiff, allowing for comparatively little movement in the water, reducing the life-like effect of the appearance. Most often the flexible members are attached to the hook, rather than associated directly with the body itself.
The Stevens patent, U.S. Pat. No. 3,877,168, shows a lure having a pair of simulated eyes, one disposed on each side of the body. These eyes are mainly included to add a certain noise to the lure as it is played through the water, rather than for appearance purposes.
The invention relates to improvements to the apparatus described above and to solutions to the problems raised thereby.